Annabeth's Secret
by Annaomi
Summary: Viruses and sickness can't get through Camp Half-Blood's magical borders, yet Annabeth comes down with something. Not only that, but she's hiding something from Percy, and he has a feeling that it isn't good. Then Nico shows up to camp and seems to be sharing secrets with Annabeth. Can Percy find out what it is before the sickness spreads? Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

The campfire leaped higher as the campers celebrated. The fire reflected whatever mood the campers felt, and this was a good night. The flames leaped at least thirty feet in the air tonight and it was a mixture of colors - all happy. Purple for Dionysus, pink for Aphrodite, green for Demeter, black (although I didn't see how that was a pleasant color) for Ares and Hades. There was even blue for Poseidon. The sing-a-longs continued for a while. A new song had been added about last summer's triumph. New half-bloods didn't seem to understand the meaning, but I didn't think it would be long before they did. It may had been last August, and it was June, but camp was still buzzing about it.

"You okay?" Annabeth asked, sliding in next to me. Looks came from the Athena cabin, but mostly newbies.

"Yeah," I said, "why?"

"You aren't really doing anything. Even Tyson is singing along."

Is was true; the big guy sat next to me, clapping his hands and singing. He sounded like a choked penguin, but it was a definite improvement on my singing.

"Yeah, well, I'd sound worse than Hades when he finds out that Demeter is staying permanently."

She smirked. "Only that bad?"

I slipped my hand into hers. I could've sworn that the flames jumped a bit higher. She leaned her head against my shoulder and sang along. Now, usually nymphs and Aphrodite's daughters sang well (Hephaestus's children especially sounded like dying robot turtles) but I'd never noticed how Annabeth sang. Maybe it was because we weren't technically "dating" before, so we weren't really this close, but her voice was really beautiful. It wasn't "mystic" like the sirens, but it was still nice.

After the sing-a-long, campers slowly left to go to their cabins until only Annabeth and I were left. Grover and Juniper walked along the beach together, just happily. I remembered a time when it wasn't possible to have so much happiness around camp. Back in August, I'd heard the last Great Prophecy, claiming that I would die in a week. Now, I had Annabeth next to me, as we watched the peaceful fire crackle and the couple on the beach. Before I even knew what was going on, Grover and Juniper leaned in and kissed. Annabeth made a small, happy noise.

Then she coughed.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She leaned back. "Yeah. Probably just the smoke."

I doubted it. There wasn't much smoke being emitted from the fire, and viruses tended not to get in through camp borders, unless someone came in sick. Still, I knew basically everyone here, and nobody was coughing.

She coughed again.

"Annabeth-"

"Seaweed Brain, really, I'm okay!"

"Okay, Wise Girl."

She sighed and watched Juniper and Grover more. Once, she had mentioned to me that they were a "cute couple", though I didn't understand what that meant.

Again, she coughed, then tried to hide the labored breathing that came after.

"That's it," I said, standing up, "I'm getting Chiron."

She didn't let go of my hand. "Don't! Please!"

"Why? You're sick!"

"He can't know. Please?"

Annabeth attempted to pull me back down, but her usually strength just wasn't there.

"Annabeth, why can't he know? He's been training heroes for centuries. At least tell me!"

She sighed through her nose. "I can't."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Because... it involves Nico. And... you know how dangerous children of the Big Three are!"

The last part seemed tacked on, like she was trying to find an excuse.

"What did Nico do?"

"That's none of your business."

"Are you going to tell me anything!?"

"Percy, I would if I could! Really!"

"Then do it."

"Nico wouldn't like that... I'm sorry."

I regretted instantly what I said next. "Why, because you're seeing him?"

Anger flashed dangerously in her stormy gray eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe you don't trust me!"

"You don't trust me! You won't tell me!"

She let go of my hand and shakily got up, stomping to her cabin. That's the last I saw of her for the night.

I glanced up at the Big House. Should I go and risk the truth? Or should I risk Annabeth's health? As I was walking toward the big house, a giant figure appeared in front of me and made a gruesome noise. I heard a voice in my head, _You shouldn't have come here!_ I felt for Riptide in my pocket, and uncapped it, wondering how in the world a monster left the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

I slashed Riptide toward the monster. He whinnied and flew backward. Wait, _whinnied_?

"Blackjack!" I cried, capping Riptide again. "How many times have I told you not to do that!?"

_Sorry boss. Oh, man, I can still feel that Celestial Bronze..._

"Well," I said, "that's your fault."

_Oh, sure, blame the horse._

"What are you doing out of the stables?"

_Porkpie was annoying me._

"Again? Come on, I told you to just tell him to stop."

_Yeah, well, he stole my sugar cubes. What are you doing out after curfew? Aren't you worried about harpies?_

"This is for Annabeth, Blackjack. Wanna give me a lift to the Big House?"

_Too lazy?_

"Ha-ha."

Blackjack knelt on the ground and allowed me to climb on. He soared down the hill, and right before we reached the Big House, skirted up above it. He did several 360s and spun upside down, basically anything to make me sick.

"Just set me down!" I cried.

_You're boring. Fine._

We touched down in front of the Big House. I climbed off Blackjack's back.

"Thanks, big guy. I'll tell the Demeter cabin to give you some extra sugar cubes."

He neighed happily and flew off.

Inside the Big House, I could see the fireplace. Chiron say by it in wheelchair-form, reading _The Illiad _in Ancient Greek. Mr. D wasn't there, probably off sleeping or arguing  
with his siblings or griping to satyrs.

"Chiron?" I asked quietly.

He turned and gave me a warm smile. "Percy, what are you doing here? It's after curfew."

"It's... It's about Annabeth."

The centaur's smile faded. He'd known Annabeth since she was seven, so almost ten years, and he didn't like to see her hurt. He set his book on the table beside him and motioned for me to come in. I closed the door quietly behind me, just in case Dionysus was sleeping. I'd heard enough of his annoying "reasons" and griping, I didn't need it tonight. Luckily, he didn't come downstairs.

"What's going on?" Chiron asked.

I told him about all that had happened, though I left out the part about Nico. It hurt too much to say aloud. When I finished, he nodded quietly, thinking.

"What should I do?" I asked.

"The last time a disease came through the borders," he started, then shook his head.

"What?"

"No, I swore on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed in the distance.

"What should I do?" I asked again.

Chiron didn't answer at first, just starred off quietly. I could tell that his mind was running a million miles an hour, perhaps to Olympus and back. Finally, he sighed.

"I can't tell you."

Anger bubbled inside of me. "What do you mean you can't tell me?"

"Percy, do you remember your journey to the Sea of Monsters? What your mother told you?"

"To follow my heart."

Chiron watched me expectantly. I sighed.

"So, you want me to watch her, and follow her if she leaves again? And watch out for Nico?"

Chiron smiled. "If you say so."

The next morning came quickly, and luckily, without dreams. Demigod dreams are never good, especially when your girlfriend has a disease that your trainer who's thousands of years old can't tell you.

I dressed quickly, inspected the cabin, and helped Tyson clean out. We waited for Drew, the counselor of the Aphrodite cabin after Silena... died, to inspect it. She was by all means a brat, like most of Aphrodite's children, so I wasn't expecting a 5 out of 5. She came and stood at the door, gave us an unamused look, then gagged.

"What?" I demanded.

"Seawater," she muttered, and marked us down as 3 out of 5. Better than 1, I guess.

Breakfast came shortly after. This morning it was french toast (it would've been my favorite if it were blue). I scraped a portion into the fire and prayed,

"Poseidon, please aid me on this... Well, just help me!"

I also mentioned Athena, but I doubted she would hear me. The goddess of wisdom tends to frown upon her enemy's son dating her daughter.

I ate in silence, unhappily. I still had no idea how I was going to deal with this, let alone fix it. I hoped that Poseidon had heard my prayer, because I was going to need it. As I finished eating, I was too lazy to go to fencing, even if Clarisse would gut me. Wouldn't be the first time. The lake seemed beautiful today, which shouldn't have been. Annabeth was sick. Even through the camp's borders, it should be hailing.

Before I could work myself up too much, Annabeth's half-brother Malcolm came running up to me.

"Annabeth... she... is..." he stammered between breaths.

"Malcolm, calm down. What's going on?"

He took a deep breath and starred at me. "What did you do to Annabeth?"

"What?"

"She came to the cabin angry, and this morning Nico showed up at our cabin."

Anger boiled in me. "Nico?"

"She... She thought we were asleep, but I wasn't. I watched her as she packed a bag, then left the cabin."

"Where'd she go?" I demanded, standing up.

He shrugged. "With Nico. Something about Mae Castellan..."

I got up and sprinted toward my cabin. I grabbed my shield off the wall (Tyson had fixed it up for me) and bolted out. Nico was going to pay.


	3. Chapter 3

_**It's been waaayyyy too long, and I'm sorry :( I hope I can make it up to you guys somehow..!**_

I bolted into the arena and whistled. Mrs. O'Leary bounded over to me.

"Hey, girl," I said, scratching her behind the ears. "I hate to ask this, but can you shadow travel again?"

She let out a little sigh, but seemed okay with doing it. I whispered something into her ear (Nico had taught me how to do this) and climbed onto her back. She dashed toward the forest and soon, everything went black. When the world came back into view again, we were on a beautiful hill. On one side, a nice house lay, and on the other, a highway. Mrs. O'Leary yawned and laid down. Soon, she was snoring. I smiled and patted her head one last time before heading down to the house.

"Mrs. Castellan-" I heard someone try as I came to the door.

"Don't call your mother 'Mrs.', Luke," a voice that was obviously Mrs. Castellan answered.

"Okay, Mom, would you please listen? Only you have the key."

"Oh, yes, the key. You know, your father gave it to me. Stolen from Hades? Yes, yes, something like that."

"Where is it?"

"Have a cookie, Luke, you're so thin."

I rang the doorbell. The talking ceased, and footsteps clattered to the door. Nico opened it.

"P-P-P-Percy!?" he cried.

Someone knocked over a chair in the kitchen, and I saw a flash of blond before it suddenly disappeared.

"Move," I said, angry. He obliged and watched me walk into the kitchen.

"Luke!" Mrs. Castellan cried. "I knew you'd come home! Here's you're lunch!"

She handed me a paper bag. I felt bad, so I took it, then set it down when she turned to make more.

"Nico," I muttered, turning to him, "where's Annabeth?"

He looked around the kitchen desperately. "I don't know."

"Nico-"

"I really don't know! She must've put on her Yankee's cap!"

Someone coughed on the chair in front of me. I'd spent so much time around Annabeth, I knew how tall she was, and I managed to knock off her cap with perfect aim. She looked at me sadly.

"Hey, Percy," she said.

"What's going on? Why are you with Nico? And what's this 'key'?"

Nico sighed. "I can't tell you. But Annabeth told me what happened at camp, and I promise, nothing is between us. Okay? Trust me, you don't need to worry about that."

Annabeth punched him in the arm. On normal occasions, he would've flinched, but it was too weak.

"Where's this disease?" I asked, calmed down a little.

"If you want to help me," Annabeth said, "then we can't tell you, okay? You can still help."

"How?" How was I supposed to help cure a disease that I couldn't know anything about?

"Find the key," Nico said. "Back in the 40s, when I was little, Hades put a new entrance into the Underworld. It was supposed to clear up the lines. His keys that he owns can seal up or open any entrance. This particular entrance is sealed. Well, Hermes had a child a while back that needed to get into one of these sealed entrances, so he permitted his child to steal the keys and get into the Underworld. He didn't come back alive. It's a nice story."

"Where are the keys now?" I asked.

"Hermes got them back from his child right before he went into the Underworld. For whatever reason, he gave them to May. Of course, she won't tell us where they are..."

"Why do we need them?"

"Percy," Annabeth said, gripping my hand, "please, just help us find the keys. I'll-" She coughed. "-be okay then. Okay?"

"Alright. Where should we start looking?"

"We've searched May's whole house," Nico said, "except the kitchen." He looked sadly at the piles of moldy peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and cookies. There was literally years worth of rotten food in this place. "Guess we'd better start."


	4. Chapter 4

Things on my list to do in life:

1. Shadow travel with Mrs. O'Leary to Montauk

2. Become fluent in Ancient Greek (even with my dyslexia, it was still hard to learn)

3. Watch Ares suffer

Things on my list NOT to do in life:

1. Die a horrible death

2. Have Athena show up at prom

3. Clean up May's kitchen

You may think it's not that bad, but that's because you've never been there. The whole kitchen was covered in moldy sandwiches, burnt cookies, and juice-boxes. Once we'd finally convinced May that her son was outside, she wandered out and called, "Luke, time to come in! I've got lunch ready!"

We set to work. Nico managed to find the trash bags and we each took three. Within an hour, the table was cleared. Within two, the counter was done, and three, the refrigerator. We just cleaned the floor as we went to clear a path, and it was done, too. Annabeth looked around.

"We should wipe up the mold," she declared. "May could get sick from it. I mean, worse than now."

Going to the closet, she found bleach wipes, a spray bottle, and wash-clothes. This chore didn't take as long, and the mess disappeared before our eyes. Nico sighed and sat on the chair, admiring the spotless kitchen.

"No keys," he said.

"Are you sure you checked everywhere?" I asked.

"Percy," Annabeth said, "do you really think a daughter of Athena would forget to check somewhere?"

I was about to say something clever, like, "_Yes_", when there was a thumping in the basement.

"Does she have a dog?" Nico asked.

"No," I said. I'd known what a dog sounded like; we'd had several above our apartment before, including a German Shepherd with a liking for dog treats and biting.

We walked toward the basement. I uncapped Riptide, Nico took out his sword, and Annabeth her dagger. I held up three fingers, then two, then one, and we charged. Something squealed and I swung at it. Before I hit it, Annabeth used her dagger to block it.

"Percy!" she scolded. "Look before you strike!"

There was a little girl, probably seven, now crying silently on the floor. Annabeth knelt next to her.

"Hey," she said, "it's okay. I know he can be mean, trust me."

"Hey!" I cried.

The girl wiped her eyes and looked up at Annabeth, sizing her up. Her clothes were torn and she had a wild look in her eyes.

"Are you a monster?" she finally asked.

Annabeth smiled. "No, we kill the monsters. Have you seen any?"

The girl nodded. "A big doggy like a wolf, and a scorpion, but they both were killed by a boy. But the boy turned to stone."

"Okay," I reviewed, "a hellhound and a pit scorpion, but stone?"

Annabeth and I caught eyes.

"No," she said. "Not now. Not yet. Another lifetime at least!"

"If you're lucky," I muttered.

"The one who killed the boy," Annabeth told the girl, "was it a woman with snakes on her head?"

The girl nodded. "I saw her reflection in a mirror, but the boy said, 'Don't look!', so I didn't look."

Annabeth sighed and coughed. Nico studied the floor. I didn't know what he had to be upset about; he'd never faced Medusa.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Ariadne," she said.

"Very Greek," Annabeth commented. "Your parents chose well."

"Who are you?" Ariadne asked.

"I'm Percy, this is Annabeth, and this is Nico."

The girl grinned.

"Where'd you come from?" Annabeth asked. "We were down her earlier and didn't see you."

Ariadne pointed to the wall. "There. Upstairs. I was at home in the castle, but then-"

"Castle?" Nico asked.

"Yes, with Daddy and Mommy and my sister."

"Who's your sister?" Annabeth asked.

"Her name is Phaedra. Mommy's name is Pasiphaë, and Daddy's name is-"

"Minos," Nico and Annabeth said in harmony.

"Oh, you know them!" Ariadne said excitedly. "Yes, Crete is a very busy place and I don't have a lot of friends. But you know them, so we can be friends."

"Of course we can," Annabeth said. She looked nervously at Nico.

"Ariadne," she said, "can I talk to the boys in private?"

"Yes," she said, and walked up the stairs.

Nico and Annabeth looked at each other, and some mutual agreement passed between them.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you know Dionysus's wife?" Nico asked.

"Of course," I said. "Ariadne. But she's an adult, not a kid."

"Percy," Annabeth said, "Minos is Ariadne's dad. Pasiphaë is her mom. Phaedra is her sister. This can't be a coincidence."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"That space and time is being played with," Nico said, "by the same Titan who gave Annabeth her disease."


	5. Chapter 5

"Kronos!?" I cried.

"No!" Annabeth said. "Menoetius, Titan of Anger and Rashness."

"How? Kronos is the Lord of Time, and we defeated him."

Nico nodded. "Yes, Percy, but remember, he's never truly gone. He still sends nightmares every once in a while, right?"

I shivered. Just last week, he'd sent me one about Charon crossing the River Styx... and my dead self was in his boat. Then another night, I dreamed that Annabeth was running from Medusa, but turned around and was turned to stone. You know, the nice pleasant things you want to think about.

"We think that's how he's been communicating with Menoetius," Nico continued. "Menoetius is somehow able from Kronos to bring Ariadne as a child to this time."

"But why?" I asked.

"He's angry," Annabeth said.

"Really," I muttered sarcastically, "the Titan of Anger is angry? Thanks for the update."

She punched me in the arm. "He's angry because of you, Seaweed Brain."

"What did I do?" Sure, I'd done a lot of things, like cheating on tests, accidentally running into Aphrodite's daughters while they're doing their makeup, swinging Riptide in the apartment and knocking over my mom's vases, etc., but I didn't see why Menoetius would be angry about any of those, let alone anything else I've done.

"You stopped Kronos," Nico said.

I shifted a bit. "Actually, it was technically-"

"And if you hadn't," Annabeth interrupted, "Menoetius would've risen with the rest of the Titans."

"But why make you sick?" I asked.

She shrugged and coughed. "I don't know. But I know Hades has him contained in the Underworld. For every sickness, there is a cure."

I looked at the wall that Ariadne had come from. "Is that the entrance?"

Nico nodded. "But we still don't have the keys."

Annabeth paced impatiently, stumbling a few times. She coughed, and it was worse than before. I swore to myself that I was going to kill Menoetius for what he had done. She was getting worse and we hadn't even found the keys yet. If they were in this house, where could they be? Then it hit me: why we couldn't see them...

"Ariadne!" I called upstairs. She bounded done. I got questioning looks from Annabeth and Nico, but I ignored him.

She came up to me and waited for an answer.

"Did you find any keys?" I asked.

She gave me a look, then pointed to the corner. "You mean those?"

"There's nothing there," Nico said, but I could see Annabeth catching on.

"Can you get them?" she asked sweetly. Why couldn't she talk to me like that?

Ariadne nodded and walked toward the corner. She reached down and it looked like she was picking up nothing. But when she turned around, she had the key in her hands.

"Hermes is smart," Nico noted, finally catching on. "He veiled the key in heavy Mist."

I nodded and took the key from Ariadne. She walked over to Annabeth, who was kneeling to be at her height. They started talking. Best of friends, I guessed.

I handed Nico the keys and he walked toward the wall. He felt it all around, knocked on it, even kicked it. It sounded hollow. He looked toward Ariadne, who had temporarily stopped talking to nod to him and confirm that it was the opening. Then she talked it up with Annabeth again, about anything and everything. Annabeth listened and commented happily every once in a while, but it was mostly Ariadne who talked. How Annabeth could stand just listening with her ADD and ADHD, I'd never know. Little kids always drove me crazy when they tried to talk to me, if they tried to talk to me.

Nico finally managed to get the door opened. All I could see through it was darkness, but Nico stepped in like he knew where he was.

"I-I-I," Ariadne stuttered.

"What?" Annabeth asked as the young girl hid behind her.

"I don't wanna go. Monsters! Right there!"

It struck me too late that she was seeing through the Mist again. A hellhound jumped on top of Nico. At first, Annabeth grabbed her dagger and I uncapped Riptide, but Nico was laughing a bit, then pushed it off.

"This is my pet," he said. "Don't vaporize him."

Annabeth and I exchanged looks, but put our weapons away.

"Grab a flashlight," he said, "and then we'll go. Menoetius should be in his cage."

Ariadne ran upstairs and grabbed us a small flashlight, but still pleaded not to go.

"Annebeth," she said, though Annabeth showed no annoyance that she said her name wrong, "can I stay?"

She thought for a minute, then nodded. "Okay. But lock the doors and don't answer to anyone. Someone will come to get you in a van with strawberries on the side."

The camp van. Annabeth ran upstairs to phone Chiron, then returned after a moment, ready to go.

Nico led us into the black tunnel. I felt weak, dead, I guessed, and it took all my will not to turn back. We would be okay. We were going to make it back. Annabeth would be okay.

_No, we wouldn't. No, we won't. No, she won't_, a voice said. I told it to shut up.

Somehow, we made it to a dim-lighted area where three lines were formed. Cerberus stood guard, sniffing around, and then noticed us.

"He sees us," Annabeth warned.

"He knows me," Nico said, "it's okay."

Cerberus barked and bounded over, but he didn't look happy. He studied us for a minute, then snapped at Nico, who rolled away just in time.

Annabeth coughed for thirty seconds straight, blood flying, then finally regained herself to say, "Run."


	6. Chapter 6

I took off sprinting with Nico right behind me, but Annabeth wasn't following.

"Annabeth!" I cried. "Come on!"

She tried stumbling after, but to no avail. She kept falling and tripping.

"Just go!" she screamed, barely dodging Cerberus's paws.

"No!" I cried, running full speed toward her. Nico took off toward Hade's castle. What was he doing?

There was no time to think about it. As I approached Annabeth, Cerberus was about to snap at her. I lunged, causing us both to roll away. He growled in disappointment. I helped her up while he was gaining his bearings again.

"Go," I said, and she stumbled away.

"Alright!" I screamed as the over-sized German shepherd faced me. "You're going to get it this time!"

He snapped at me, I dodged, and and a row of dead people in the E-Z DEATH line got knocked over. Whoops. As I dodged his attacks, something strange occurred to me... He was never mean to Nico, in fact, he loved Nico. Why had he changed all of a sudden?

I ran forward, stabbed toward his paw, but then faltered at the last minute. Even if he wasn't going to play nice, I couldn't kill Nico's "pet". Something was definitely wrong with him, and if I killed him, we may have never known what caused it. Was it Menoetius? Could Kronos send nightmares to dogs? Even if he could, could he send them to over-sized, Hades'-loving ones?

I lunged toward his paw again to fake-stab it, and he fell for it again as I lurched away. That gave me a few precious seconds to see Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" I cried. "Are you okay?"

There was little drops of blood on the ground in front of her, where she was leaning. "Careful," she said hoarsely, looking up. I barely missed Cerberus's mouth.

"Ann-" I dodged Cerberus again.

"Stop worrying about me and defend yourself!" she cried, then had a coughing fit. She then vomited blood.

_No, _I thought, _could it get any worse!?_

I needed to distract Cerberus longer. He couldn't get to Annabeth. But how? Nico was no help anymore; he'd run off to his dad. I was getting more and more tired. No way I could keep this up forever, and once I was finished, there was no doubt that he'd go after Annabeth. Maybe my only choice was to kill him. His master was Hades, which meant he'd come back eventually, maybe even quicker than usual, right?

I continued to charge and taunt him until I was able to get him to face me. He growled, then snapped at me, just as I expected. As he did, I jumped onto his head and slid down his neck until I regained balance. I had Riptide in both my hands above me, about to bring it down on him, until he lurched forward and sent me flying. Luckily, I missed all the dead and had no injuries except for a couple scrapes and bruises. As I stood up, I expected Cerberus to charge at me, but instead, he was watching Annabeth vomit and cough blood everywhere. Then, quietly, he slowly went toward her, step by step. She didn't notice.

"Hey, Fur-ball!" I screamed, but he ignored me.

I started taking off toward Annabeth until I was right in front of her. She finally stopped her coughing fit and looked up at me.

"Percy," she said weakly, "I don't... Look out!"

Too late. Cerberus knocked me aside, sending me flying and eventually hit my head on a rock by the River Styx. I was dazed and dizzy. Warm blood trickled down my head.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried.

My legs wouldn't move. My vision was cloudy, but I could see enough to tell that Cerberus was close to her. She staggered up and pulled her dagger out. I tried to force my legs to move but they refused. If nothing had happened soon, Annabeth would be-

Cerberus stopped right in front of her, his eyes twitching. He howled loudly, then scratched at his ears, then nipped at them. The spirits all around stopped, then chattered and covered their ears in annoyance.

"Castle!" Nico cried.

Cerberus bounded toward there, never looking back. Nico came over and helped me up.

"You hit your head pretty hard," he observed.

"I'll be okay. Annabeth has nectar on her all the time. How'd you get him to stop?"

He showed me something shiny in his hands. "Underworld Dog Whistle. Don't ask how it was made."

Considering the spirits' reaction, I didn't want to.

"Help me check on Annabeth," I said, and we went over to her. Blood and vomit lay on the ground next to her. Nico cringed.

"You're getting worse," I noticed.

"Only because of you, Seaweed Brain," she teased, but coughed a little after.

I helped her up. "We'll find Menoetius. I'll personally make him regret this."

She smiled and kissed me on the cheek. Nico looked away, but I could hear him laughing a little.

"I know you will," she said. "You both will be great."

"We," I corrected.

She shifted. "Percy, maybe I should be behind. I'm just a burden now."

"Don't say that," Nico said.

"It's true!" she insisted. "I could go to Hades. Nico, doesn't he owe you a favor?"

He shrugged. "Maybe for recovering his keys. I could probably convince him. Persephone would like you, at the least, since you're not a child of Hades yourself."

He said the last sentence with bitterness, like Persephone was a crazy step-mother who wanted to destroy him every minute of her eternal life. Which was true, of course.

"Alright," I said, "let's go talk to the Lord of the Dead."


	7. Chapter 7

"But father," Nico pleaded, "she's really-"

"I don't care, Nico!" Hades screamed. "I don't like her... boyfriend."

I took a deep breath. Annabeth stared at the floor. Wasn't hating me for being Annabeth's boyfriend Athena's job?

"Please," Nico said, "he saved Olympus. He saved you. If he hadn't been there, we'd all be dead, and you'd be serving Kronos hand and foot. Get it?"

Hades sighed. "I suppose he did, didn't you, Jackson?"

"I guess," I said.

"You guess?"

"Honestly, I had a lot of help from your son, Clarisse, Annabeth, Rachel-"

"Modesty," Hades grumbled. "Wonderful."

Someone entered from the door.

"Oh, honey, the flowers are beautiful," Persephone exclaimed. "They're just blooming everywhere! You need to... What is _he_ doing here? I thought I told him never to come back!"

Nico flinched. "Sorry, ma'am, I just want my friend to stay for a little while, just maybe and hour or so. Is that okay?"

Persephone wandered around the throne room, making random plants spring up from vases. To match the wonderful theme of the room, all the flowers were black. She picked one and walked up to a window, where she positioned the flower in her hair. It fell; she repositioned it.

"Ma'am?" Nico called.

She turned with a dangerous look in her eyes. "You dare to ask me? You're lucky I haven't had my plants choke you to death. If it wasn't for Jackson, I would've."

"Me?" I asked, lost.

"Yes. You saved us. Also, you and Annabeth make a cute couple."

We both blushed.

"Persephone," Hades groaned, "you sound like Aphrodite."

"I like Aphrodite."

"Nico," Hades said, "you may not stay here. I have told you that."

"Why?" he cried angrily.

"I value my eternal wife over my children who will die. Leave before I incinerate you to ashes!"

The door opened again and a blond woman came out carrying a basket of fruit. "Persephone, that garden is simply too dark! Only blacks and grays."

"My husband likes that, Mother," she answered.

"Demeter," Hades muttered, "this is not the time."

"Oh, but it... Oh, you have guests! Well I just picked fresh fruit. Perhaps you should stay for dinner."

"They were just leaving!" Hades screamed, staring murderously at Nico. Nico wouldn't look at his father. He just stared at the floor, and when he did look up, his eyes met mine. _This is not working_, he mouthed.

"Uncle," I said, stepping forward and bowing before his throne, "I'm begging you to let Annabeth stay until we can find the antidote."

"Why should I?" Hades said.

"Father," Nico said, "Persephone-"

"Do not talk to me, boy!" Persephone cried.

"Typical demigod," Demeter groaned. "You should've stayed with me."

"Mother!"

Hades broke up their argument, then stood up and paced. I wasn't sure if he was debating how to kill us or whether to help us. I was hoping for the latter.

"Nico," he said, "your friend may stay."

There was a collective sigh of relief from the demigods in the room, and a collective groan from the goddesses.

"Husband," Persephone said, "we can not trust Nico. What if he is bringing the virus into here? He may be trying to bring Olympus down."

"I helped save Olympus!" he screamed. "You can't treat me like this just because I'm not your son!"

Persephone walked slowly over to him. "I can do whatever I want, boy, because I can destroy you and your friends, and you can't do anything!"

Nico cried out and unsheathed his weapon. In one fluid motion, he swung at Persephone, who dodged it. It cut a little on her arm.

"That was it!" she screamed. "Hades, kill them!"

"Persephone," he mumbled, bored, "he's still my son."

"At least lock them up!"

Hades waved his arm and everything went black.

* * *

Someone was shaking me violently. "Wake up!"

I sat up quickly. "Nico? Annabeth?" It was pitch dark.

"We're here," Annabeth said, and coughed.

I stood up slowly, leaning against the concrete wall. Carefully, I made my way toward Annabeth's voice until I found her and sat next to her.

"Nico," I said, "what was that?"

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice muffled, like he was covering his face. "I was so angry. My real mom died back in the 40s, and I have no connection to my other relatives, so Persephone thinks she can treat me however and get away with it. Of course, she does."

"Welcome to the club," Annabeth muttered.

"Your parents are alive."

"Have you met them?"

"Stop," I said, "we didn't get this far just to be put in a cell. We're going to get out and get you the antidote."

She coughed, then sighed. "Percy, I don't think I can make it that far. Maybe we should just go back."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can barely run at the moment, therefore soon I'll barely be able to walk, then stand, then anything. I can't fight a Titan. You can't leave me anywhere, either. If we make it out of here, just take me back to Camp Half-Blood. Then I can be with my friends when-"

"Don't talk like that!" I cried. "You'll be fine! There's no way we can't get this antidote. We defeated Kronos, right?"

"Barely," Nico said.

"But we did! Come on, guys, we can do this. And everything is going to be alright."

Silence crept through again.

I couldn't help but think how we would be able to defeat Menoetius. Nico was angry, Annabeth was sick. I was the only one who wasn't... damaged. Yet. The "yet" was important, too. Who was to say that a hellhound, or Cerberus, or whatever, wouldn't maul or kill me? Maybe Annabeth was right, maybe we should go back to camp.


	8. Chapter 8

Several more precious minutes passed by, though they felt like hours. Annabeth leaned her head against my shoulder. I grasped her hand. Nico snored in the corner.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered in my ear.

"Yeah?" I whispered back.

"What if I don't live?"

"I told you not to say that."

"Admit it, it's true. If we don't get out of here, I will die."

I sat quietly for a minute, then hugged her suddenly. She hugged me back. I held her close like there was no tomorrow, and of course, there may not have been for her. I felt hot tears fall from her, which was strange since she rarely cried.

"I promise," I said, "that I will do all I can to save you."

She backed away suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm just afraid... What if it's contagious?"

"Wouldn't Nico or I have caught it by now?"

"Not necessarily... Or maybe you did. Some diseases have silent but deadly symptoms that you don't notice until they get worse."

I gulped. There was no way we could figure this out if all of us were sick.

"What are the 'silent symptoms?' I asked.

She thought for a moment. "I don't know."

"That's encouraging. Don't worry, I'm sure I don't have it. Maybe there aren't even any silent symptoms."

"I hope not."

I took her hand. We were quiet for a moment, then she coughed and mustered a, "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked.

"Putting yourself in harm's way to save me. That's why I didn't tell you at first. I knew you would do this, and the only one who's allowed to hurt you is me."

I smirked. "I don't think so."

"You wish."

"Anyway," I said, "Grover would've saved you. Chiron would've. Really most of the campers."

"Percy," she warned, "I'm complimenting you. Take it."

I laughed a little bit.

Suddenly, Nico cried out.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He didn't answer for a minute, then laughed. "Oh, my gods, I thought I felt a drip of water. I must've been dreaming."

"No," Annabeth said, "I feel it, too."

Water slowly dripped in from the ceiling. Where was it coming from? Was Hades trying to drown us? No, he was smarter than that. The only sound for a while was water dripping, and of course, Annabeth coughing. Then, without warning, the water started coming in quicker and quicker. We stood up simultaneously.

"It's up to my waist!" Nico cried, which meant it was at Annabeth and I's thighs.

"Is your dad doing this?" Annabeth screamed over the roar of the rushing waters.

"I don't think so!"

"Pray to him!"

"He won't listen!"

"Try!"

"Persephone will convince him otherwise!"

"Guys," I warned, "not the time."

I realized suddenly that I could see Annabeth and Nico. It was like wherever the water was, I could see what it was seeing. Annabeth was taking deep breaths, probably to keep from vomiting. Nico was now chest-deep

"Please, Nico!" Annabeth cried, coughing. Blood spattered in the water.

He shook his head. "I can't. He won't listen-"

"Listen, Nico!" Annabeth screamed, a sudden surge of anger. "Pray to Hades. And Percy, pray to your dad!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Uh, let me think, we're knee deep in water, but why pray to the sea god?"

I sighed and quietly prayed, "Father, please help us out of this. We really, really need you. If anything, it'll help your relationship with Hades and Athena."

"Nico," Annabeth said, "your turn!"

I could see him taking a deep breath, then mouthing words. Annabeth, clearly not hearing it, opened her mouth to say something. I quickly gripped her hand to silence her. She tensely gripped back, but still solemnly, like she was used to the threat of death. Which, even being a demigod, was impressive. Nico stopped mouthing. We were silent, listening to the water pour in. Nico had to tread water to stay up now. Annabeth and I were getting close. Even if I wasn't going to die, I had no interest in watching my friends perish. I knew I could keep them in an air bubble, but I didn't know how long.

The water began to cover Nico, and he mustered one last, "Help," before he went under. Annabeth and I were under shortly after. She was still holding my hand. I pulled her close to me and she held onto me, clearly scared.

Suddenly, without warning, there was a bright light above. Annabeth could see it, too, because her eyes were open and looking up. A naiad emerged toward me.

_Take heart, young warrior, _her voice said in my head. _Your father has heard you. You, and your friends, will be spared._

I nodded. There was a flash, and then everything went black.

* * *

"Wake up," someone said, shaking me.

My eyes flew open and I sat up quickly. Annabeth and Nico were sitting beside me, looking worried. I smiled to show them I was okay.

"What happened?" Nico asked.

Annabeth and I exchanged looks, then I explained it all.

"See!" he cried, jumping up. "It wasn't Hades! It was Poseidon!"

Clearly, it was. I said a silent "thank you", then said, "Look, Nico, who cares what Hades thinks? You care about your friends, right?"

He was silent and unmoving, the creepy way an Underworldian child could be.

"Nico," Annabeth persisted, "what would Bianca do?"

He tensed. "Don't talk about that! Look, I do care about you guys. And that's why I'm here."

Annabeth looked around. "Where is 'here' exactly?"


End file.
